Totally valid point. I think they were simply surviving by merit of the fact that the market was good, and really any major speedbump would have caused the company to fail. It's an excuse in the sense that they're not addressing that the reason coronavirus has destroyed the business is because it was built on a poor foundation.
I don't feel like they owe it to me at all – I'm just being honest about what I think is happening. I know that to some degree they probably even believe that the virus was the cause of the closure. This is my opinion, of course, but to me it seems clear that this is all about them having an opportunity to close that leaves them with a narrative of how it happened that lets them sleep better at night, which frankly I think is something they deserve. They've worked hard - the company has succeeded at times, but in its present form it wasn't ready to handle the relatively minor turmoil we've experienced from the virus thus far, but that's not to diminish how hard the closure is on them at all.
Sorry if I'm coming off as if I'm bitter or frustrated with the ownership. I'm truly not intending that - I just generally have found the whole process interesting, the way in which the narrative has been spun toward the coronavirus causing the closure, etc. I legitimately feel for these people who I have worked for for several years and think of as not just bosses, but friends. I might be letting some of my own personal emotions bleed into my writing since I'm frankly a little stressed about my own situation, so I apologize if I'm giving the wrong impression here.
If you feel the company has been failing, then I doubt this is an excuse. It's just the straw that is breaking the proverbial camel's back.